The Pretender Queen
by Old Account - See Profile
Summary: What if Darkstalker's scroll blew away before Peril could burn it? A new Winglet has opened at Jade Mountain Academy, and Crimson is less than happy to join. But when a powerful figure everyone has known to be dead suddenly starts attacking, it is up to Crimson and Forseer to reveal the true attacker. Can they unmask the pretender queen...or will they die trying? (On hiatus)
1. What You Think

**Author's Note: I'm back! I'll be updating regularly again, and I have four more choices on my poll!**

"And if you feel lonely or sad or scared or anything, don't hesitate to write to us."

"You probably won't even need to. I'm sure you'll make tons of friends. And I'm even more sure this will help get you over the arena."

Crimson narrowed her eyes. Though she had been over this with her parents (or, as she usually called them, Gust and Jay) about a million thousand times, she still didn't get how going to stupid Jade Mountain Academy with all of those disgusting SkyWings that once were loyal to Scarlet would help her get over her experiences in Scarlet's arena. No, that wasn't the real reason that Crimson's parents had volunteered her for the new Lapis Winglet. Ever since Crimson had returned to the Talons of Peace from the arena, her parents had been behaving awkwardly around her, especially when Crimson learned that while she was imprisoned her parents hadn't even tried to rescue her. They just assumed she was dead and had another dragonet: Starling. They probably wanted all of that awkwardness gone.

"All Jade Mountain Students over here!" a SeaWing called from the cave that the academy started in. Without a word, Crimson flew towards her, barely hearing her parents' final farewells. Crimson flew awkwardly thanks to a chunk of wing that she had lost in an arena fight with a SeaWing. A harsh gust of wind slammed into her, and she toppled over, slamming into a SandWing flying just below her.

"Three moons! Watch where you're going!" the SandWing exclaimed. Shoving her aside, he glided into the cave. Crimson gradually followed.

The cave was packed with dragons, thirty at least. Crimson could see four SkyWings near her, and with a hiss she turned away and flew to a ledge halfway up the left cave wall. Sighing in relief, she spotted the scarred face of her friend right next to her.

"Crimson! You're here!" Flame whispered excitedly.

"Gust and Jay made me come. They said it would be 'a good chance to get used to other SkyWings'. What nonsense. At least you'll be here to make this bearable." Crimson muttered. The two disfigured dragons leaned in to each other, huddled against the strong wind blowing into the cave.

"As you all know, two weeks ago we had an unfortunate accident in which an enchanted scroll was blown away from the Jade Winglets' hands to who-knows-where. Moonwatcher is now going through some…issues, so we'd like you to stay away from the healing cave. Yes, it has been discovered that she is a mind reader." the SeaWing (who was probably Tsunami, head of the academy) began. Gasps and murmurs filled the cave. Crimson gaped. A NightWing that could actually read minds? And even worse, a mind-reading NightWing with "issues"? Good thing Moonwatcher was in the Jade Winglet!

"I know that these are troubled times, but we have to stick together here at Jade Mountain Academy. This could be our only chance at eternal inter-tribe peace. So, to encourage parents to not pull their dragonets out of school, we have started a new winglet, the Lapis Winglet. Please welcome Crystal of the IceWings, Princess Tadpole of the MudWings, Forseer of the NightWings, Majestic of the RainWings, Cobra of the SandWings, Gull of the SeaWings, and Crimson of the SkyWings to Jade Mountain Academy. That concludes this meeting." Tsunami finished. "Lapis Winglet, follow me." Tsunami lead them down a long hallway to a series of three smaller caverns.

"These are the sleeping caves. Princess-," Tsunami started.

"Oh, don't bother with that title. Just call me Tadpole." Tadpole requested.

"Okay. Tadpole and Gull will be sharing the first cave. Crystal and Majestic will share the second one. The third will be shared by Cobra, Forseer, and Crimson." Tsunami explained. Upon hearing this, Tadpole and Gull raced into their cave and started talking excitedly.

"Um…yeah. It's kind of late, so you should get some sleep. There's discussion circle tomorrow morning, so meet me by the underground lake. Here are some maps so you don't get lost. See you later!" Tsunami said, then turned and walked away.

Crimson scampered into her cave and settled on a rock ledge along a wall. A small NightWing, that must have been Forseer, and the SandWing that Crimson had bumped into earlier, that must have been Cobra, followed and settled into their respective sleeping spots. Crimson looked down from her ledge. It was a lot higher up then she had thought. It was almost like…no. Memories swarmed into Crimson's head, memories of being up so high on a stone pillar with no walls, looking down and seeing dragons bleeding to death. Crimson trembled. _Stop this. You aren't that high up. It's only a ledge._

"Oh, great. A SkyWing that's afraid of heights, sleeping almost directly above me. What could be better? Try not to fall on me, peace monger coward." Cobra growled. Crimson wished that whoever had told him that she had been raised in the Talons of Peace was right next to her so that she could bite them.

"Oh, I'm a coward? A coward who would run away from any fight? I got this in a battle, pigeon-brain. A battle with an IceWing. I won. Ask Ruby if you don't believe me. If you aren't too scared." Crimson retorted, showing Cobra her injured wing.

"Too scared? Did you fight in the War of SandWing Succession?" Cobra snarled.

"Oh, and fighting for Burn was so amazing?" Crimson spat. Cobra definitely seemed like a Burn supporter.

"Burn? Three moons, no! I fought for Queen Blister and none other!" cried Cobra.

" _Queen_ Blister? Blister died before she could become queen!" Crimson exclaimed.

"Would you two please quiet down? I'm trying to sleep!" interjected Forseer. Crimson sighed and turned her back to Cobra, trying to look at the stone wall and not the floor so far beneath her. Falling asleep, she barely heard Cobra's final whisper.

"That's what you think."

And then weariness made her eyes droop and she fell into a dark nightmare.


	2. Hail the True Queen

Forseer woke up to a scream. For a moment she was reminded of Viper and Braveclaws and all of the other victims of the lava back in the volcano. _No. This isn't the volcano. There is no lava here. It isn't that bad._ Whipping around, she spotted Crimson shaking, her claws lashing out at invisible opponents, her eyes firmly closed. Opening her mouth, she let out another bloodcurdling screech.

"Wake up and stop making that racket!" Cobra yelled, shaking Crimson awake. _Just a nightmare. Thank goodness._

"Are you guys going to come to the lake or am I going to have to drag you all there?"

Forseer turned to see Crystal behind her, a very disgruntled Majestic in tow along with Gull and Tadpole. The two later dragons were laughing and chatting, indicating that they had probably been friends before they came here. Had Gull been a spy for the MudWings during the war? It certainly seemed that way. Gull's eyes kept darting from side to side, seeming to see everything important. He visibly leaned away from all the dragonets but Tadpole. Forseer turned her eyes to the rest of the dragons. Morrowseer's words echoed in her head: _Look closely. Read their body language. Make them think you can read their minds._

Crystal held her head and wings erect, standing perfectly still. Nothing unusual or even interesting about the dragon could be seen. _She's probably a rule follower. Obeys without question. Probably never had an original thought in her life. Typical IceWing._

"Hello? Are you going to come over here or are you just going to stare at me like that for all eternity? You might as well. It would be an improvement." Crystal snapped. Startled, Forseer looked around to see that all of the dragonets but her had joined Crystal. Forseer reluctantly walked over to Crystal and followed her through a system of caves for what seemed like forever until they finally burst into a vast cavern with a large pool in the middle. Forseer spotted Tsunami waiting on the other side. The dragonets spread out along the lake, Forseer trying to get as far away from Crystal as possible and winding up next to Crimson on one side and Cobra on the other. _Oh great. I just had to wind up next to the grumpiest dragons in all of Pyrrhia._

"Okay. I think that first we should introduce ourselves. Like, your name, your age, anything interesting." Tsunami explained. "Majestic, you go first."

"I'm Majestic. I'm four. My favorite color is purple. No, yellow. No, white. No,-," Majestic began.

"Get to the point. Your favorite color is all of them." Cobra snapped.

"I am Crystal. I'm six." Crystal stated, then gestured to Gull, who was sitting next to her. _Wow. She really is a boring dragon._ In fact, Forseer still could see nothing in Crystal but the indifference of a guard.

"Hi guys…I'm Gull, in case you haven't already noticed. I'm five. Yes, despite my exceptional awesomeness, I am five. My favorite color is yellow. That's right. Yellow, not blue or green. Contrary to popular belief, SeaWings don't spend every free moment looking at the sea." Gull said. Several dragons giggled, but Crystal kept a straight face. Forseer clawed the ground in frustration. Had this dragon trained to be unreadable? Giving up, Forseer looked at Majestic. Her scales were currently colored bright pink with small pale green stripes. It looked like happiness mixed with nervousness, based on the RainWings Forseer had seen. A new color spiraled along Majestic's scales: a dark magenta that usually meant _why is that creepy NightWing staring at me?_ Forseer quickly ducked her head away, then looked back when she thought Majestic wasn't looking. Majestic, who was looking, shot her a glare. _Am I going to make everyone hate me?_ Forseer anxiously thought.

"Tsunami! Moon won't stop screaming! She keeps getting up like she's going to look for the scroll, so we wound up tying her to her bed but she's about to burn through the rope! Tsunami, we need you!" Sunny yelled, crashing into the cavern. Tsunami turned to the dragonets.

"Class dismissed! Next up is history with Webs in the history cave!" Tsunami ordered, hurriedly following Sunny out of the cavern. Forseer growled. It just had to be that an insane rainforest-born NightWing that had always eaten every day and never had to watch their mentor eat on days they couldn't that had wound up with powers. Powers the real NightWings, the ones who grew up on the volcano and weren't hidden away by cowards, had never had. It wasn't fair. IT WASN'T FAIR! Spoiled Moonwatcher who had never had to live with her aunt when her mother fell into lava. Spoiled Moonwatcher who got to breathe pure air with no smoke. Spoiled Moonwatcher whose mother had betrayed her whole tribe. HORRIBLE AWFUL SPOILED MOONWATCHER! No. Moonwatcher didn't have powers. She didn't have them. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THEM!

Snorting a puff of flame, Forseer turned and walked towards the history cave.

…

After a history lesson so boring that it made the history Forseer had learned in the volcano seem like parties, it was time to eat. At first, the prey center had seemed so crowded and chaotic that Forseer had thought she'd never find Fearless, but before her eyes her cousin slunk out of a shadow to stand right in front of her.

Fearless. The cousin who had been like a sister to Forseer ever since her mother Braveclaws had died. The friend who had talked to Forseer every day, and had introduced her to Fierceteeth. Fierceteeth had been pretty cool to hang out with. Forseer had liked integrating herself with the older dragons. She had hoped that they would think she was more sophisticated than she actually was. But then Fierceteeth was imprisoned. Sometimes Forseer wondered what Fierceteeth was doing, and what life would have been like if she had joined her in capturing Sunny, like she had offered. Would they have succeeded in their mission? Could they have stopped Glory from making the NightWings kowtow to her? It was too late now. Fierceteeth probably hated her. But sometimes, in the deepest, blackest place in her mind, Forseer liked to remind herself that Fierceteeth had asked her, not Fearless, to help her.

"Forseer! I missed you!" Fearless cried.

"You too." Forseer said affectionally.

"There are these really good mountain goats here! Why don't we find one?" offered Fearless.

Just then, a scream sounded from the edge of the prey center. Forseer hurriedly flew over to see what was happening.

Gull was looking down at a series of rocks arranged to form words. Forseer's heart skipped a beat as she read them. In simple letters, the message was shown.

 _Blister has returned. Hail the true queen._


	3. Not to be Trusted

Crimson peeked at Tsunami from behind a boulder as she conferred with a large MudWing and the small, odd-looking SandWing that Crimson knew to be Sunny. Eavesdropping had always been a useful skill in the Talons of Peace, one that Crimson had quickly mastered. What Crimson was looking for was an explanation of the rock message in the prey center. She knew that there was some kind of warning about Blister rising, but she didn't even get to see it before Tsunami had closed the area off.

"Maybe it was just meant to scare us. After all, Blister died more than a year ago." suggested Sunny.

"But who would do that? Nobody was here except for the students and us." pondered the large MudWing.

"I don't think it was meant to scare us. If someone wanted to scare us, they would write 'Your deaths will come soon' instead of 'Hail the true queen'." Tsunami growled. Crimson gaped. _Hail the true queen? Is "Blister" trying to recruit an army?_

"No! No! I won't! I won't do it! You can't make me! No…please. Why do you need to- no! I thought- I used to think you were my friend! No! NO! STOP IT! GET OUT! GET OU-…right. Get the scroll. Get the scroll."

Crimson and the gathered dragons whipped around as a voice rang out into the cave, starting at a scream, then suddenly dropping to an emotionless whisper.

"Three moons, it's happening again! Don't worry, Moon! I'm coming!" cried Sunny, running into an adjoining cavern. Tsunami and the MudWing followed. As soon as they were out of sight, Crimson creeped out from behind the boulder. She jumped back as a patch of shadow rippled and Forseer crawled out.

"Um…I…wow. Um…do you know what's wrong with Moonwatcher? It seems like she's talking to someone. I think they want her to get some scroll…maybe the enchanted one Tsunami was talking about." Crimson stuttered awkwardly.

"She probably just went crazy." Forseer snorted coolly.

"I think I'm going to go check, just in case." Crimson said, walking into the cavern Sunny had disappeared into. Forseer snorted again but followed.

Inside the cavern were several beds, with a few of them occupied by injured dragons. A small RainWing wrapped a bandage around a cut on her tail in one corner, while a worried-looking NightWing with silver teardrop scales by her eyes clutched her head in her talons in another. Sturdy-looking metal wires kept her pinned to a large rock topped with a bundle of leaves.

"That's Moonwatcher! Stop thinking!" Forseer whispered frantically. Crimson concentrated on the walls around her, but all they reminded her of was the arena and blood and fire and death. _Stop it! This is only a wall._

"What is it?"

Crimson turned to see Sunny behind her.

"Um…we just heard Moonwatcher yelling and went to see what was wrong." Crimson murmured. Sunny sighed, her eyes darting around nervously.

"Well, something must've happened when the scroll blew away, because she's been like this ever since. Tsunami thinks it would be good to move her back to the rainforest, but whenever we touch Moon or anything she's touching…well, it feels like burning up from the inside." Sunny explained, shuddering at the thought.

"No! I'm not going to do it! I'm never going to do it! NEVER! Can't you see I'm doing you a favor? If you ever got out, nobody would accept you! NOBODY! Nobody wants you alive! NOBODY WANTS YOU ALI- sorry for the outburst there." Moonwatcher's voice again went from a scream to a normal volume. Her head turned to Crimson. Crimson desperately tried to concentrate on the walls. Moon giggled, but something felt wrong and unnatural about the giggle.

"Don't worry about that. I'm all better, see? Now, could you please unlock these wires, Sunny? My wings are getting really cramped." requested Moonwatcher. Sunny frowned dubiously.

"No. I won't. Because YOU AREN'T MOON!" yelped Sunny. Moonwatcher gave her a cold, cold glare that burned with hate. Out of the corner of her eye, Crimson saw Forseer shake her head. So this wasn't Moonwatcher. But then, what was it?

"Of course I'm Moon! Who else would I be? I'm very offended that you even thought I wasn't myself." "Moonwatcher" snapped.

"W-why are you doing this? I thought…I used to think…" Sunny trailed off.

"Sunny, what do you know about what happened to Moonwatcher?" asked Crimson suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Sunny protested. Crimson and Forseer both glared at her. Sunny shook her head frantically.

"Snakes and centipedes, I'm Moonwatcher! Would you please stop ignoring me and- GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Moonwatcher roared.

"Oh, Moon. What happened?" asked Sunny, concern in her eyes.

"I-I…he…he filled my head with thoughts, so many…so many that I had no room for my own thoughts. I was just a vessel, and his thoughts took over my brain." Moonwatcher whispered weakly.

"I think Moon needs to be alone." Sunny murmured. Crimson reluctantly exited the cavern and trudged back to her sleeping cave, Forseer right behind her.

"Sunny definitely knows something we don't. She probably knows who 'he' is." Forseer growled.

"That burning feeling Sunny described…maybe Moonwatcher was enchanted! Maybe that's what the scroll could do! And maybe it could move stones too! Think about it. How could a dragon move all those stones in the prey center without anyone noticing? And maybe it could bring dragons back from the dead! Maybe that's how Blister came back!" exclaimed Crimson. Forseer shook her head.

"No animus can enchant anything to bring dragons back from the dead. But maybe you're right about the other things. And maybe the scroll can also make someone into Blister." Forseer concluded. Crimson narrowed her eyes. _Is it just me, or is she making these conclusions a little too fast?_

"Who could've found that scroll? It hasn't been that long since it blew away, so someone around here probably grabbed it." Crimson muttered. Her eyes widened as she reached a conclusion.

Someone at the Jade Mountain Academy was doing this. _And that someone might be right in front of me._ Forseer looked and sounded suspicious. Her dark green eyes were a little too cold. And she had motive, too. Blister had been an ally of the NightWings before Glory took over. Perhaps Forseer wanted to rekindle that alliance and overthrow Glory.

No matter what, Forseer could not be trusted.


	4. Confrontation

"Sunny!" Forseer growled, barely able to contain her anger. Some creepy thing was trying to get an enchanted scroll, yet Sunny didn't say a thing?

"Yes?" Sunny said, turning from Moonwatcher's side. Moonwatcher had gone eerily quiet, and as much as Forseer envied her, Forseer was really worried about her.

"What does the magic scroll do? What's that thing that's attacking Moonwatcher, and why does he want the scroll? And why haven't you even TOLD US ABOUT IT?" Forseer demanded. Sunny's eyes widened.

"Well – um, y-you see…the magic scroll is a vessel of animus power. Write a spell on it, and the spell will work. As for…the other thing…I'm not really supposed to tell the students. It might cause unneeded panic. Once we find a solution to this problem, we'll tell you what it was, okay?" Sunny whispered. _Oh, I think panic would be necessary!_ Forseer thought angrily.

"So you're just going to pretend that nothing is wrong? SERIOUSLY? You know what? I'm going to find out everything. And I'm going to tell EVERYONE. EVERYONE! Don't you understand? Can't you think for yourself for once? Don't you realize that you're the sole heir to the SandWing throne? YOU BETTER START ACTING LIKE IT!" Forseer yelled, shoving past Sunny towards Moonwatcher. This was almost as bad as not knowing the NightWing secrets for YEARS, even though she obviously could keep them. But she was stronger now. She wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I don't think a six year old who spent five years on an island in the middle of nowhere would know anything about this. About me. About who I am. Also, I am a co-owner of this school. I can get you expelled. And I don't think Queen Glory would like that. So DO NOT SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" Sunny roared, her eyes suggesting that Forseer had hit a sensitive spot. Forseer ran out of the cavern. _I can't go back to the rainforest, now that I've tasted freedom!_ She thought anxiously. _No. If I'm expelled, I won't go back to the rainforest. I'll go help Fiercetee – no, she hates me. I'll live alone on the volcano. I'll go see if there really is a lost continent. I'll do SOMETHING!_

Crimson shot Forseer a glare as she came within sight of her clawmate.

"I heard you two from the underground lake. Could you at least try to be nicer to Sunny? If you get expelled, you won't be able to investigate." Crimson snapped. Forseer snorted, but did not reply.

"If anything, Sunny's answer made things way more difficult. Anyone could be posing as Blister. However, I do have a few ideas of who it might be. Cobra obviously knows something about this, and I saw Fearless disappear into the shadows around -," Crimson began.

"My sister would NEVER do such a thing!" Forseer exclaimed, internally doubting her words.

"Yeah right. Blister was an ally of your tribe before she died, remember? She was going to help you drive out the RainWings. Why wouldn't Fearless want to bring back the old alliance? For that matter, why wouldn't you?"

Suddenly, a peal of laughter could be heard right behind Forseer. She turned around to see Gull, a smile on his face.

"This is literally the WORST investigation team I've ever seen. The ABSOLUTE WORST. How can you two be allies if you argue at every step you take?" Gull declared. Growling, Crimson shot a blast of fire at him, but he easily dodged.

"Now, I'm not just here to laugh at you. I'm here to offer my help. Why don't we turn this duo into a trio?" Gull offered. "I was a spy during the war. I know what I'm doing, but frankly, you two don't. I could hear you arguing from a mile away, and I think Cobra is already getting a little suspicious. I could help with that." Forseer couldn't help feeling proud of herself for having known that Gull was a spy. Obviously, a spy would have some skills that she and Crimson lacked…so Gull's offer was a good one.

"Okay." Forseer said.

"No way!" Crimson cried at the same time. The two dragonets faced each other, smoke coming out of their snouts, until a crashing noise near the mouth of the cave startled them. Forseer dashed toward the sound of the noise, Crimson and Gull right behind her.

A pale green RainWing – Mangrove - and a pale SandWing lay on the ground, gasping for breath. Both looked to be suffering from massive injuries. After a few seconds, the SandWing rose to his feet, a haunted look in his eyes.

"I need to talk to Sunny _immediately_." He growled. Gull instantly flew off.

"What happened?" Forseer asked. Mangrove lifted his head off of the ground.

"It was a joint attack on both the RainWings and the SandWings." He groaned. "There were so many of them…mostly SandWings, but a few MudWings, SeaWings, and NightWings came too. We were unprepared and overwhelmed."

"And then they killed her."

Forseer whipped around at the SandWing's remark.

"They killed Queen Thorn. We have come to find Queen Sunny."


End file.
